21st Hunger Games
by mpawn
Summary: Non-Canon. Katniss Everdeen won the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. Who won all the others? My take on the 21st Hunger Games.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Non-Canon, just my version of the 21st hunger Games.**

**When I started this, I saw a map with District 7 in my home state, so lets assume District 7 is in NM.**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games, and any relation to persons living or dead may be coincidental.**_

Introduction:

Katniss won the 74th and 75th Hunger Games. So who won all the others?

This is the story of the 21st Hunger Games

Jacob awoke from his small bed. His 6ft 4in frame had a hard time in District 7. But, it was all he had. One did not simply choose where they lived. If he could, oh man, he would be living in the Capitol, where all the rich important people lived, those who didn't have to send their children like him off to fight in the Hunger Games. Even so, he lived in a bad district. In the days before the Great War, the pre-residents of District 7 were the ones who invented the bombs that fell. The one that fell and obliterated 13.

"Enough of those somber thoughts," he said aloud to himself. "I have enough to worry about today. Stupid Reaping." The Reaping was the worst day of the year. It's the day that took his best friend, Matt. Last Reaping, Jacob's name had been selected, but Matt, knowing that Jacob had to support his family, volunteered as tribute. Matt later died in the arena, killed by some person from 4.

In order to get away from the sad thoughts in his shack of a house, Jacob went out to Matt and his secret spot, hidden in mountians that surrounded the district. This cave was appearently someone's secret bunker, and it was filled with a bunch of pre-rebellion stuff, such as a weird box that had a picture of an apple with marks that looked like there used to be writing. There also was a black hinged case, with one hinge broken. Like the box, it had a glassy part that was pure black. There were also some holes in the side of this case, and a silver word on top that read len-. (**A/N: Give you 3 guesses as to what the box with the apple is and the first 2 don't count)**. Jacob kept this items his secret, not wanting his only link to the past to be destroyed.

After spending a few hours in the secret spot, Jacob went back home to get ready for his last Reaping. When he got home, he got dressed and joined his sister and brother at the Reaping Ceremony. He knew he wouldn't be selected, after all, who gets picked 2 years in a row. He saw his brother, who was only 12 years old standing a few rows behind him and hoped that he wouldn't get picked. Finally, their escort, Elijah Maestas, arrived onto the stage. "Well, then" Elijah announced, "Let's get this Reaping over with so we can see who the lucky people who get to go to the Capitol are. The rules say, ladies first, so." Elijah stuck his hand into the giant glass ball and selected a white slip. "Mariam Mora." She walked forward onto the stage to accept her fate. Fate, being the cruel mistress she is decieded to pick one of District 7's best people. Everyone knew her, and she was the nicest person one could ever meet. Fate was cruel this year.

Then Elijah walked over to the boys bin. After running his hand through the jar for a bit, he selected another white slip. "Jacob Carpenter." The fates were REALLY cruel this year. Whispers filled the plaza, such as "Wasn't he picked last year as well?" and "That's the guy who Matt volunteered for, I guess he got picked again. Poor guy." Jacob sighed, and walked up to the stage, shook hands with Mariam, and sat down.

Satisfied that both tributes were picked, Elijah went to the center of the stage and said, "District 7, here are your tributes for this year. May the odds be ever in your favor."


	2. Chapter 2: Insanity

**A/N: Right, so here's the next chapter. I want to reach at least one review, and if anyone does, I'll give them a shout out or make them a tribute or something. Anyway, back to the story.**

**As always I don't own the Hunger Games, only my OC's**

Jacob was numb. He wasn't sure if it was a comfortable numb, or a saddened numb. The part of him that was comfortably numb was the same part that wanted revenge for Matt's death. He vowed right then, in the justice building where they were holding Mariam and him, that he would kill anyone he saw from District 4 on site, or die trying. The dilemma he faced was that the person who killed Matt, a girl named Slash, ended up winning. So even if he won, he would be tormented by Matt's death every year, when all the mentors/former victors meet. "I don't care if I win or I lose, just as long as I kill someone from District 4."

Then the guards opened the doors. His siblings entered. Jacob had lost his parents in a fire 6 years ago, when he first became eligible for the tesserae. At that moment, Jacob, the oldest male of 5 kids, became the father figure. Fortunately for the children, age 12 is the youngest age one can become a lumberjack in District 7 (**A/N: I have no idea on the legitimacy of this claim.) ** Due to his large size and relative strength, Jacob was good at lumberjacking. He used his money from the job to support his family. Matt also helped, as he was a carpenter, which was a bit ironic, as Jacob's last name WAS Carpenter, using his trade to build furniture and home repair for the siblings.

"Jacob, do you have to go?" his youngest brother, Micheal asked. Michael had only been1 when their parents died."

"Yes. If I don't then the Capitol won't be happy. Besides, I have to avenge Matt," Jacob replied, knowing full well the consquences of abandoning the Hunger Games. "I have to go to make sure you guys don't have to." The little family had a quick group hug and was then escorted out.

Jacob walked over to the mirror and was reminded of his earlier thoughts before his siblings came in. "Mirror, mirror, I confess, I can't escape this emptiness," he said, talking to the mirror. The mirror of course said nothing. "Great, now I'm talking to inanimate objects, I think I'm going insane." _Like insanity's a BAD thing?_ Jacob could just picture Matt saying that, which he in fact had said, several times. Matt had frequently pointed out that insanity was such a bad thing and that everyone is a little insane

_*Flashback*_

"_TORRES YOU ARE INSANE, GET OUT OF MY STORE. YOU TOO JONES," the old shopkeeper yelled. Jacob was sitting outside of the shop, aptly labeled Wood Goods. It was run by a cranky old man named Sam Sanchez. Matt often enjoyed causing trouble there with Diego Jones, a friend of Jacob and Matt's._

_ Today, Matt and Diego had decided to annoy Mr. Sanchez by slowly creeping into the store, borrowing some wooden letters that Mr. Sanchez had made, and asking him if they could use them to make a sign for the store. Mr. Sanchez agreed, but quickly saw the error of his ways. The sign that Matt and Diego had made read _"Wood Goods: For all your woody goody needs." _ Sanchez quickly followed this up by screaming at the boys and throwing them out._

_ "Jeez Matt, what did you do? Wait, don't tell me, I don't even want to know."_

_ "It was nothing. Diego and I just made a sing for old Sammy. Nothing too bad."_

_ "Nothing too bad? He called you insane then kicked you and Diego out of his store again."_

_ "Hey, you say this like insanity's a BAD thing. I fully admit to being insane. Everyone is. The ones you gotta watch out for are the ones who claim to be perfectly sane. Those are the ones who are so far gone they don't know it and are suffering " With that, Matt walked down the road to his own shop._

_*End Flashback*_

These words brought some comfort. They reminded Jacob not to lose his head in the arena, and to watch his back at all times. Maybe, just maybe he would live then.

**A/N: How did you guys like it? Anyone who can guess both song references I've hidden in here gets 3 cookies (::) (::) (::).**

**Thanks, and constructive criticism would be nice.**


	3. Chapter 3: The Train

_Ello again. mpawn here. I know that the last 2 chapters have been rather short, but from here on out, the chapters will be 1k+ words, hopefully. This chapter should take us from the train ride to just before the start of the Chariots and Training_

After his siblings had left and Jacob had returned to the normal world from dream land, the doors opened again. Jacob was surprised to see that it was Wylie, the District's only winner of the hunger games so far. He had won the 14th Hunger Games 7 years ago. He did it in such a strange way. Many tributes relied on weapons to kill their opponents. Wylie simply used brute force. When it was down to just 2 people in the arena, it was Wylie and the leader of the career pack, a girl from District 1 called Shine. She came at him with her sword, striking his arm. He retaliated by grabbing her wrist, jerking it back so she dropped the sword. While she was still nursing her wrist, he grabbed her, picked her up over his head and broke her back with his knee. (**A/N: a la Bane to Batman, without the recovery thing)** Ever since then, Wylie became District 7's first victor and mentor.

Wylie was usually running late to events, so it was no surprise that he missed the Reaping. Even though it was required by the Capitol to watch, and that he was on the stage, Wylie always seemed to not be on time. But, when he did miss the Reaping, he usually met the tributes for the first time on the train to the Capitol, not in the Justice Building. "Mr. Wylie, what are you doing here?" Jacob asked.

"Just Wylie please. I'm here to talk to you about your plan for the Hunger Games."  
"Sir, don't you usually meet the tributes on the train when you miss the Reaping."

"Yes, but, it's not every tribute that gets picked twice in a row. I wanted to find out why the fates have picked you, to go to this blasted event."

"I don't know."  
"Exactly. You need a plan. You can't just go in fueled by revenge for one person."  
"Huh?"

"Everyone in the District knows that you are gunning for the District 4 tributes. I want to know what you are planning to do AFTER you get rid of them."

"I don't really kn-"*  
"That's my point. You need to go in here with a plan. Remember, I trained Matt, he made it to the top 8. I know what I'm doing. You need to go after the weaker tributes first, or build up alliances. You cannot, cannot just go out for the District 4 tributes. The other Careers would kill you on sight. You're a big guy, so they are probably already out to get you. Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so. But one last question. Why is it that our train for the Capitol leaves so late compared to other tributes?"

"What do you mean by that?"  
"Well I mean, it seems that the other tributes get Reaped, and then have like an hour until they leave for the Capitol. Here its Reap, wait like 3 hours, then head out on the train."

"It's because we're so much closer to the Capitol than the other districts. We are bordering the Capitol to the north of us, south of them. It only takes about an hour by train for our, and District 3's tributes to get there, while Districts 12 and 4 take 3 or 4 hours." With that, Wylie turned and left the Justice Building. "One last thing. Don't be late for the train," he called out as he was heading for the doors. When he had finally left, Jacob realized the other meaning behind what he said. This room would be his prison cell for the next 2 hours. Unfortunately there was NOTHING to do in the room. The walls were barren and spongy so that no tribute could commit suicide before the train left. It worked, unless the tributes really tried.

(Two Hours Later)

The train had finally arrived and Jacob was free, or at least, as free as one could be in the Hunger Games. Jacob was ushered out of his room, cell, to the loading platform where all of District 7 would see Mariam and him off. It seemed like a death train to many tributes, almost as if, had they been alive for them, the trains of the concentration camps of WWII, herding people to their death. The tributes went onto these trains, but they never came back. The needless slaughter of the Hunger Games was symbolized in these trains. But when Jacob saw them, he did not see vessels of death, but of victory. This was the train that would bring him back home.

After boarding the train, Jacob immediately noticed the grandness of it all. There were pure silver plates with golden dinnerware. The chandelier seemed to be lined with diamonds, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. "If it's this grand on this train, then I wonder how it is in the Capitol. After all, most tributes only see these trains once," Jacob asked Mariam.

"I don't know. After all, no one is allowed to leave the Districts other than the tributes," Mariam replied. When she had finished saying this, Wylie and Elijah boarded the train. At once the doors closed, and a voice called out _"Please stand clear of the doors…Por favor mantengase alejado de las puertas."_ The voice sounded very automated, as if it were not belonging to the train, but taken from somewhere else and just used with the train.

"Now that's we're all here, I say that we stay together. Most of my tributes when they get to the Capitol just go running off. That's great and all, but we need to stay together. Got it?" Wylie said.

"Now, Wylie, just because a tribute didn't show up for the chariot races in time doesn't mean you need to put all the tributes under scrutiny." Elijah replied.

"Oh yes it does."

After Wylie and Elijah's little disagreement, the rest of the trip was silent. That is, it was silent until they reached the area known as "Ver Dam" the southern boundary between District 7 and the Capitol. The train passed by Ver Dam, and when Mariam and Jacob saw it, they were amazed. They had never seen anything so massive. "If this is what Ver Dam, the supposed puny southern gate of the Capitol, I wonder what the actual city looks like," Jacob said to no one in particular. At that, the train passed by Ver Dam, through the giant metal gates in the mountain, and into the Capitol

**A/N: How do you guys think that was. My first attempted at writing a long chapter.**

**Anyway, anyone who figures out what Ver Dam is get 5 cookies.**

**R&R please.**

**Till next time**

**~mpawn**


	4. Chapter 4: Capitol Experience

_This is a belated birthday present for my best friend, of whom Jacob is based/named after._

_I know you guys are probably tired of exhibition and are probably like "Come on, get to the actual games." Especially since I haven't updated in like 2 weeks. Well, those of you looking forward to just the games, you'll probably be disappointed. To those of you just along for the ride, you will hopefully not. _

_Disclaimer: As always, I only own my OC's, I do not own the Hunger Games._

(President POV)

As the trains entered the Capitol, the President looked out her window with a devilish grin, almost as if she had something especially cruel planned for this year's tributes. While she was spying o-Watching, the districts, she discovered a very, very, appropriate place for this year's games. To her, the games were a torture device for the districts, and this year, the kids would suffer as well. After all, what could be a better torture device than a school.

(Jacob POV)

Jacob watched in amazement as the train entered the city. His old cave hiding spot had a few well aged posters advertising a glamorous light filled city called S VEGA, with a strip of lights he thought were the most impressive in Panem, until he saw the Capitol. S VEGA was NOTHING compared to the Capitol. S VEGA had one maybe two light filled streets (it was hard to tell from the photo). The Capitol had EVERY street covered in lights. Another photo in the cave had a picture of a place called TIMES SQUA, also filled with lights. Times Squa looked like a candle next the neon sign compared to the Capitol. It was just that awesome. Every street corner had something new. One such street, which according to the sign was called Capitol BLVD and Fremont Street, was advertising something called Minecraftia 5.8.101. Jacob had no idea what Minecraftia was, but it sounded weird. The next corner, Capitol BLVD and Capitol ST, was offering trips to a supposed "Island of Adventure" while the other stall offered a trip to "Walt Disney World." Jacob had no idea where either of these were, but judging from the map, they said it was far off the coast of District 11. "Are you seeing all this?" he asked Mariam.

"Yeah, can you believe they have so much stuff? I've seen two advertisements for private islands just for residents of the Capitol since we got here. It's like they don't even care if that the districts are starving and dying off. They just want to party," she replied. "I mean, what's the point of worrying about other people when you have private islands full of rides you could visit. It's sickening to imagine how many people's lives could have been saved if these selfish people would donate even a tiny sum to the Districts. I've heard reports while we were on the train that District 12 people die of starvation more frequently than rain falls in District 11, which might I add is several times a day." While she was ranting, Mariam didn't realize that the train was -slowing to a stop, nor did she notice when the train stopped at the station. She did notice when Jacob grabbed her arm and shook her back to reality.

With Mariam fully brought back to the cruel world, she and Jacob descended from the train, noticing the large amounts of Capitol residents whom had gathered at the station for the arrivals. Wylie quickly herded Mariam and Jacob into the training center, with Elijah following closely behind. Elijah then spoke up, saying "Now, I expect you would like to explore the Capitol, I mean, if I didn't live here I would. But, many of the better attractions, including most of the attractions along Capitol BLVD are off-limits to people under the age of 18 and have been, since even before the days of Panem. My father told my stories of he and his friends coming to the Capitol before Panem, and saying that it is pretty much the same after the war as it was before." Elijah then went off somewhere supposedly to talk with the other escorts. Then it was Wylie's turn to talk.

"I remember coming here as a tribute," he recalled. "It hasn't changed in the years since then, and one major rule is true: although the residents may treat the tributes as royalty and let them do anything they want, the Peacekeepers do not. You have 2 hours before the stylists get here, as District 12 encountered some mechanical problems coming here, and since you can't have the parade without all the districts, President _ has decided to delay the parade for 2 hours. I expect you back here at 3 sharp to meet your stylists." With that, Wylie left the kids to their own devices. Jacob quickly went back to the first thing that caught his eye coming into the Capitol, the Minecraftia thing.

(Two hours later)

After Jacob and Mariam safely made it back to the Training Center, they both parted ways to meet with their stylists. Jacob's was a woman named Alexis. She was pretty enough, but had genetically added mouse ears to her hear, making her look like a humanoid mouse. Not that that was a bad thing, it was just different from what Jacob was used to with District 7. "Now Jacob," she said, "you're a big guy, so we need a big costume for you. Jared and I have decided that the costumes for this year for district 7 will be along the lines of a lumberjack and a tree. Because you are much bigger than her, we have decided that Mariam is to be the lumberjack and you are to be a tree." At that she went to work carefully painting bark onto Jacob's face, hands and arms. 'This is going to be a long day' he thought to himself.

When Alexis was finally done painting his body, he looked at himself in the mirror wall. He looked like a tree out of that Minecraftia game he had been playing before. "Now, you will have to keep your arms straight at your side, but, it's not like you would be doing anything else with them, like holding hands. That's just not done," she said. "Back to my point. If you don't keep your hands straight at your sides, your costume will rip."

After that "helpful" advice, Alexis decided Jacob was ready for the parade. She paraded him out to the chariot where Mariam was, and she looked hilarious. Mariam was dressed in a stereotypical lumberjack's outfit, complete with denim and flannel. Together, they went out to their chariot. It was beautiful, reminiscent of the days of ancient Greece and Rome, and when Jacob looked closer, a tiny signature read: S. Sanchez.

As the chariots began the parade, Jacob remained like, well, a tree. When all the chariots at gathered at the front, President Reign announced, "Welcome, tributes, to the 21st Hunger Games. We have a very special arena designed for you this year. I KNOW you will enjoy it. May the odds be ever in your favor."


End file.
